Grand Zen Autocracy (Gladia)
The Grand Zen Autocracy is a nation reorganized from the Kingdom of Zen during a power struggle known as the War of Kings. The end of the war is marked by Grand King Lord_Ocram I declaring himself the Dictator and installing a newly formed The Society on January 11th, 2019. The Grand Zen Autocracy is an autocracy, ruled by a single executive branch of government controlled by an organization known as The Society. This consists of the Dictator, the Judge, and the Admiral. Introduction Naming The Grand Zen Autocracy is named after the history and culture of Zen, and is the fifth official nation of the Zen people. It takes "Grand Zen" from its predecessor, the Kingdom of Zen; which was ruled by a Grand King. Characteristics The Grand Zen Autocracy can be described as an autocracy, where Zen Nationalism runs high. The Autocracy listens to the opinions of its people through the vessel of The Society. The nation has had the intent to remain neutral in all major conflicts, however, an alliance with the Iroquois has been made for the benefit of both nations. Territory Although holding on tight to the eastern coastline held by the Kingdom of Zen, the Grand Zen Autocracy has lost much of the nation's original territory due to the continued encroachment of other, primarily European, nations. However, despite the loss of territory the Grand Zen Autocracy is very territorial and nearly begun a conflict with Mexico over the land occupied by Port of Mexico. They are primarily focused on keeping their original land rather than expanding. Background The Grand Zen Kingdom has ancient origins, but this new government was born after a recent series of events. Pope InvaderXYZ ousted Grand King Tordoc, and claimed herself both King and Pope of Zen. The people were not amused, and attempted revolt, however she remained in power. Due to an oversight in Zen law, if the new king is killed within one week of being appointed, the killer is the new king. Using this loophole, The Hobo hired a champion, and successfully killed InvaderXYZ. After becoming Grand King, The Hobo hid to create a better form of government. He was interrupted by many events, including many attempts at regicide, and “''The Great Theft of the 10th,” where the Community Chest, several people’s houses, and all livestock were stolen. It was after this event that The Hobo declared himself Dictator, and begun to create the new government. This resulted in the formation, and rise, of The Society; the ruling class of the Grand Zen Autocracy. History '''Founding Era' (January 2019) Construction of the Autocracy On January 11th, 2019, the Kingdom of Zen was officially reorganized into the Grand Zen Autocracy by the new Dictator Lord_Ocram. As a result, the Supreme Church is completely separated from the government, prompting Pope InvaderXYZ to resign and leave the duties of Pope to a more well-suited member of the Supreme Church. Immediately after her ascent to the title of Zen Cardinal, Lil_red_ was asked to become the new Pope of the Supreme Church. She accepted, immediately looking to expand the membership of the Supreme Church. In addition, _Courier_6_ left Zenport following the rise of The Society. Creeperkillergah returned to the Zen homeland following a brief period of time spent within the United States, who had put him under major scrutiny with unfounded claims that he was a spy for the Kingdom of Zen. He was quickly appointed the Mayor of Melon Fort on January 11th, which he renamed to Hobograd; in honor of Dictator Lord_Ocram. Hobograd began reconstruction of the local church in accordance with new standards brought about by Pope Lil_red_ on January 12th. On the same day, Northland approached the Grand Zen Autocracy with a renewal of an alliance between the two nations. A general sentiment arose for the autocracy to work on forming more alliances, but Dictator Lord_Ocram stated that the primary national focus was the completion of the stadium in Zenport. Following a Mexican attack against the Kiwi Syndicate, the Grand Zen Autocracy was asked if they would side with the Kiwi Syndicate against Mexico. The Grand Zen Autocracy officially decided to remain neutral in the conflict, their desire to abstain from any major developing conflicts across Gladia. Following the decision, President Diabetos10 approached the autocracy again to make sure that the Grand Zen Autocracy was not helping Mexico. On January 13th, _Courier_6_ returned to found the city of New Arroyo in geographical Baja California. Despite issues with the Grand Zen Autocracy, Lord _Courier_6_ decided to rejoin the nation to stay with the local population of House Caroline. This marked a major expansion of the Grand Zen Autocracy back into North America, into the shared territory between Mexico and the now-dead Cauhilla Tribal Federation. On that same day, a new flag was designed for the nation by InvaderXYZ-- representing the rise of the autocracy. Hostility with Mexico "I want Zen to be a neutral nation." - Dictator Lord_Ocram of the Grand Zen Autocracy On January 15th, New Arroyo outlawed Judge Appester, after he refused to pay reparations for his betrayal which resulted in the rise of The Society. This hurt relations between the town of New Arroyo and the Grand Zen Autocracy. After the town of Port of Mexico settled near Hobograd on January 16th, conflict arose within the Grand Zen Autocracy as Judge Appester believed that this was a massive territorial violation and that the town needed to be removed. Lords _Courier_6_ and MHH33 did not agree, resulting in some push-back at the idea of sending people to investigate the town and possibly instigate a fight. Despite this, The Society began to devise a plan to prevent Port of Mexico from expanding further into territory they believed to belong to the Autocracy. That same day, Pope Lil_red_ appointed Notorious_IGGSTER and Teufel_Hunden as Priests of Zen, declared Lord Creeperkillergah a Bishop, and promoted Bishop WasaSloth to Zen Cardinal. This marked the first big expansion of activity within the Supreme Church. However, with the separation of church and state, the Supreme Church would begin to lose relevance as activity dwindled and Imperio_Brasileiro never officially merged religions. On January 18th, things escalated when The Society worked with Lord creeperkillergah of Hobograd to funnel money from the national bank into surrounding the town of Port of Mexico with claims, preventing them from being able to expand. This brought a good amount of scorn from the nation's residents, with Prime Minister cedric of Mexico approaching the Grand Zen Autocracy directly to speak with them about the act of hostility. Although the Society does not speak with him, Lord creeperkillergah claims that Dictator Lord_Ocram is working on a compromise. In addition, New Arroyo was attacked by CmantheMan of the Iroquois following the official opening of the Church of Ratboygenius on January 18th. Following the escalation of hostilities with Mexico, fearing a potential attack by Mexico, New Arroyo officially seceded from the Grand Zen Autocracy. However, the Society made sure _Courier_6_ was aware that the Grand Zen Autocracy would attack New Arroyo, should the town join another nation. On January 19th, the claims surrounding Port of Mexico are removed and the Grand Zen Autocracy is reprimanded for claim-blocking Port of Mexico. As a result, Judge Appester declares that "if he makes a single claim we kill him," encouraging the people of the Zen Autocracy to attack. After Dictator Lord_Ocram fails to secure a deal with Mexico, he states that he can not control Judge Appester and then gives him permission to "kill on sight." This results in what is considered the end of Mexico and the Grand Zen Autocracy's alliance. The following day, on January 20th, residents of the Grand Zen Autocracy declare their disdain for the actions of the Society and the handling of the situation with Mexico. Although Judge Appester would still harbor major hostility towards the town, conflict abruptly stops between the two nations before things escalate to war. Expansion of the Autocracy On January 21st, Dictator Lord_Ocram launches the secretive Operation Skull. Although he does not publicly release the details of the operation, he later declares the plan as having failed and must be tried again. A new experimental creeper testing site is constructed in south Zenport, and Dictator Lord_Ocram later states that "partial success performed in the field, new specimen required due to server error." Despite this, construction of the massive stadium in Zenport speeds up and the city is further developed as the Grand Zen Autocracy focuses its resources on growing Zenport and Hobograd. In addition, the settlement of Bolivia is recruited into the nation on January 26th; led by Lord YourPalGavin. Erebor settles the town of TheBrazillianEmpire in close-proximity to Port of Pecem on January 27th, kick-starting a series of small hostilities between the two towns. With an increasing number of towns encroaching into the territory of the Grand Zen Autocracy, Dictator Lord_Ocram declares that borders are no-longer important and that the nation will settle where they please from now on. As a result, Dictator Lord_Ocram and InvaderXYZ briefly discuss where the Grand Zen Autocracy should expand. On January 30th, city-planning begins for the city of Hobograd, led by Lord Creeperkillergah. The following day, the town of Bolivia collapsed as Lord YourPalGavin decided to resettle in another nation, somewhere else. Stabilization Era (February 2019) After speaking with Mayor Lobster Larry of the Iroquois town of Caracas, Lord Creeperkillergah was able to negotiate a border treaty between Caracas and Hobograd on February 4th. The treaty was proposed to Dictator Lord_Ocram at 12:25PM PST, and was officially signed into effect by Lord Creeperkillergah and Mayor LobsterLarry at 4:25PM PST. "This treaty means that the city of Caracas and Hobograd would be border cities. The two cites would be connected with a border crossing on each side of the two cities. In a result, Hobograd and Caracas would become a metropolitan area called The Caracas-Hobograd Metropolitan Area, this would also be beneficial for the Zen Autocracy and Iroquois nations by improving relations between the two nations." On Saturday, February 8th InvaderXYZ, Doctor_Tordoc, _Courier_6_, ClonetrooperMD6, and MHH33 announced that they were rebelling against the Zen Autocracy in order to bring back the old Zen Kingdom. Stunned by this unexpected move, Creeperkillergah and Dictator Lord_Ocram immediately got in contact with the rebels. They stated their disdain at the current state of affairs, citing out the recklessness of Appester and the breaking of old alliences as their main reasons for wanting to take back control. Ocram himself was getting tired of Appester's antics, and made an agreement with the rebels. This agreement lead to the creation of an election, whoever won this election would become (or retain) ruler-ship over Zen; however even if Lord_Ocram won, Appester would have to be removed from the government. 24 hours after the creation of the poll, the votes came in, with Lord_Ocram at a majority vote of 69%. After this event, Doctor_Tordoc, InvaderXYZ, and _Courier_6_ decided to leave the server in favor of another, and Appester, unable to quench his bloodlust towards those that removed him from power, also left. Government The Society "The Society includes 3 people, The Judge, The Admiral, and The Dictator. They have absolute power, but cannot violate citizens’ rights." The Dictator The Dictator serves as the nation's head of state and is the highest supreme authority over the nation. Although it is not explicitly stated, the Dictator's authority supersedes both that of the Judge and the Admiral. However, this may be intentional as having no explicit statements gives it plausible deniability; as used with Mexico. The Judge The Judge serves as the nation's head of government and acts as the second-in-command for the Grand Zen Autocracy. It is up to the Judge to interpret and enforce the laws of the Grand Zen Autocracy. The Admiral The Admiral serves as the nation's military leader and commander-in-chief. Not much is stated about this role beyond the fact that it holds the same amount of authoritarian power as the Dictator and the Judge. Pope and Supreme Church "In the Grand Zen Autocracy, the Church (and thus, the Pope’s) purpose and power is purely religious and cultural, and will not interfere with governmental affairs." Following the War of Kings, Dictator Lord_Ocram decided that the Supreme Church needed to be completely separated from the government for the government to function uninhibited by outside authority. Lords of Zen Lords of Zen are the leaders of individual towns and settlements, as well as prominent members of Zen society. Within the Council of Lords, they can discuss matters relating to the nation and their towns, as well as bring up concerns to The Society. However, this branch of the government is incredibly informal and is hardly used. Rights of the Zen Citizen Upon the formation of the Grand Zen Autocracy, citizens were given a list of rights that could not be infringed by the totalitarian government. However, it appears only some of these are consistently upheld-- with the Right to Free Speech being one that Judge Appester frequently violated. * Right to Life * Right to Bear Arms * Right to Free Speech * Right to Food * Right to Base-Building * Right to Freedom from Unjust Punishment Cities The Grand Zen Autocracy has a handful of cities originally held by the Kingdom of Zen, in addition to a handful of new ones. However, expansion and settlement by the nation has slowed down since the rise of The Society. * Zenport (Founded December 7th, 2019) * Port of Pecem (Founded December 7th, 2019) * Hobograd (Founded December 8th, 2019) Former Cities These are a couple of cities that were formerly a part of the Grand Zen Autocracy, and have since left. * Novo Imperio (Founded January 5th, 2020) ** Collapsed on January 16th by Lord russianMess. * Nouveau Arroyo (Founded January 13th, 2020) ** Seceded on January 18th due to leadership issues. * Bolivia (Founded January 26th, 2020) ** Collapsed on January 31st by Lord YourPalGavin. * Kohnkoh Ben (Founded December 12th, 2019) ** Collapsed on February 7th due to inactivity. Trivia Zenport has a large number of skeleton horses, with the last census counting 18.